In an interview with Wired, Samsung's Chief Product Officer Kevin Packingham alludes to Apple's aggressive pursuit of patent litigation and finds it "unreasonable that we?re fighting over rectangles, that that?s being considered as an infringement."

The "rectangles" Packingham is referring to are Apple's design patents which are being asserted against certain Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets in a high-stakes California jury trial that started proceedings on Monday.

During the Wired interview, Packingham said Samsung is merely defending itself against claims that are "defying common sense."

"We?re all scratching our heads and saying, 'How is this possible that we?re actually having an industry-level debate and trying to stifle competition?'" Packingham said of the assertions being made against Samsung. "Consumers want rectangles and we?re fighting over whether you can deliver a product in the shape of a rectangle."

He goes on to say that a rectangle is not the product of research and development investments and while some of the South Korean company's products have such a shape, they aren't considered "to be an art or a science that [they've] created."

Packingham also calls on the technology industry as a whole to solve the allegedly broken U.S. patent system by not stifling competition with design patents that are not "particularly unique, and really don?t represent intellectual property."

Samsung CPO Kevin Packingham. | Source: Wired

For its part, Samsung holds over 100,000 worldwide patents, some of which are design patents though the product chief is quick to point out that they are "not as simple as the rectangle," alluding to Apple's iPhone patent.

Apple is also described as being the lone aggressor among patent-holding tech companies.

"In the current environment, there?s just one company that?s firing the first shot consistently," Packingham said. "Most everybody else seems to be getting along really well. There are a few areas where there has been some contention recently, but if you look at those areas of contention, they were legitimate and people were able to come to terms, business terms, that were reasonable. That?s the way the system should work."

Apple first accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad and sued the Korean electronics giant in 2011, sparking what would becoome a worldwide patent struggle that now spans across 10 countries.

A California jury trial regarding the matter began on Monday and is seen as one of the most important patent cases in recent U.S. history.

How stupid can someone possibly be? Even if he's being paid to play dumb, I wouldn't insult my own intelligence that much for the sake of the paper argument. I'd have my career after that company to think about. No one wants to hire someone so publicly stupid.

How stupid can someone possibly be? Even if he's being paid to play dumb, I wouldn't insult my own intelligence that much for the sake of the paper argument. I'd have my career after that company to think about. No one wants to hire someone so publicly stupid.

Where money is concerned anything is possible. If Google can be in perpetual state of denial, then why not this chump?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

How stupid can someone possibly be? Even if he's being paid to play dumb, I wouldn't insult my own intelligence that much for the sake of the paper argument. I'd have my career after that company to think about. No one wants to hire someone so publicly stupid.

Originally Posted by Granmastak: Labor unions managed to kill manufacturing a long time ago with their unreasonable demands. Now the people they were trying to protect, are out of a job.

Samsung, are you blind? How did tablets look like before the iPad came out? Some were so bulky and out of shape, they just look like 3D angled blobs!
Well, once the iPad came out, "oh look!" all the tablets afterwards were rectangles with some kind of black border around the LCD screen!

How did phones look like before the iPhone? Sure they might've been rectangles, but again, get had so many weird things sticking out, they were like blobs!
Well look! Once the iPhone came out, "coincidentally" all the phones had rounded edges, flat front, black border around the screen. REALLY?

Samsung, it's not rectangles we're talking about. It's about the overall design concept. Your galaxies look too much like the iPhone!
Just think outside the box. Look what happend to your Galaxy s3. It has 2 different corners, and it just looks different than the iPhone! Your new galaxy iii isn't "rectangular" and they don't have black borders like all the iPhones.

If you so strongly believed this argument is a stupid battle, well why did you change the overall design of Galaxy SIII??

How stupid can someone possibly be? Even if he's being paid to play dumb, I wouldn't insult my own intelligence that much for the sake of the paper argument. I'd have my career after that company to think about. No one wants to hire someone so publicly stupid.

Well the whole "They want to patent rectangles!!!" argument is good in that it works to identify idiots and liars. The second anyone trots it out you can immediately discount them as an idiot or someone being purposefully disingenuous.

It sounds like Peckerhand didn't read beyond the first line of the design patent. His statement regarding "rectangles" is nothing more then a straw man argument.

While the U.S. patent law needs updating, and whether such updating even would effect this court case, current law is what it is, and Samsung has to live or die by what "is" and not what they wish it "is."

Peckerhand needs to stop the verbal masturbation and deal with law as it currently is written.

"That (the) world is moving so quickly that iOS is already amongst the older mobile operating systems in active development today." — The Verge

How stupid can someone possibly be? Even if he's being paid to play dumb, I wouldn't insult my own intelligence that much for the sake of the paper argument. I'd have my career after that company to think about. No one wants to hire someone so publicly stupid.

an employee backing their employer to the hilt is always classified as unemployable.

Apple is going to win hands down in the US. The trial jury are no tech geeks, just ordinary people and they are not going to side with a foreign company period. I personally believe Samsung copied Apple's product designs in the first place and they should be punished for that. Samsung will be paying Apple some money once it's all over. Product sales ban is unlikely.

I mean, do they really deserve to be treated this way after revolutionising the music player and music industry in 2001, the mobile phone industry in 2007, the laptop market in 2008, and tablet market in 2010?

Apple should leave these poor innocent, innovative bastards the hell alone, and let them get back to work making the world a better place...

Steve Job's vision was so forward thinking that he used to park in disabled spots before he became sick.

They're not arguing over rectangles, but something called 'trade dress'. A C-level should (and undoubtedly does) understand this. But he's trying to sway opinion, clearly. Unfortunately, it's transparent to those who also know what the issue being discussed is.

You did not come into the world to fail. You came into the world to succeed.

Really? Fighting over rectangles?
Samsung, are you blind? How did tablets look like before the iPad came out? Some were so bulky and out of shape, they just look like 3D angled blobs!
Well, once the iPad came out, "oh look!" all the tablets afterwards were rectangles with some kind of black border around the LCD screen!

How did phones look like before the iPhone? Sure they might've been rectangles, but again, get had so many weird things sticking out, they were like blobs!
Well look! Once the iPhone came out, "coincidentally" all the phones had rounded edges, flat front, black border around the screen. REALLY?

When this is over it would be nice to see Samsung fined a couple of extra million for stupid excutive speak. The ripoff nature of Samsungs hardware is obvious to anybody with a reasonable mind. So unless Samsung can pay someone off it really don't see them winning.

When this is over it would be nice to see Samsung fined a couple of extra million for stupid excutive speak. The ripoff nature of Samsungs hardware is obvious to anybody with a reasonable mind. So unless Samsung can pay someone off it really don't see them winning.

the before and after iphone/ipad picture doesn't prove samsung copied apple. if you read samsung's trial brief, you'll see samsung's internal design plans document dated 2006, before the iphone came out, that shows that Samsung had been planning rectangular, curved corner designs for their phones before the iphone came out, and thus didn't change their designs completely in response to Apple's iphone release in 2007

samsung didn't copy apple any more than that street vendor in downtown copied rolex. how can you patent a circle?

Sure they did and anyone who thinks they didn't is either blind, trolling, or retarded. Envy is a deadly sin! Patent infringement is illegal. If rectangles were the only reason they got a patent, I'd be amazed, but I'm not retarded enough to believe that Samsung didn't copy the iPhone & iPad.

This guy is unbelievable. Some of Samsung's product look almost like Apple's products, and we now learn that people have been returning their Samsung products simply because they are not iDevices like they thought.

And what about Samsung wanting more from Apple than other device manufacturers, in licensing fees for FRAND patents?

This whole lawsuit goes well beyond rectangles and Samsung knows it -- I think the set backs they've suffered so far has led to a PR-assault on Apple, trying to make  look bad.

Wow, first it was the ads that mocked people for lining up for iPhones....

Samsung just keep on pressing the right buttons I have to say.

They must take ordinary people for retards to come up with such dumb statements. Have you seen a Samsung phone prior to the iPhone??? Yeah, it's all just a rectangle...what about multitouch?

I just had enough with this retarded company and will never buy a Samesung product again.

By the way, who cares what Kevin Packingham has to say. This douche was behind the launch of the Palm Pre when he was at Sprint. He has a record of bullshitting and as with the Pre, time will prove that he is on the wrong side of history.

In an interview with Wired, Samsung's Chief Product Officer Kevin Packingham alludes to Apple's aggressive pursuit of patent litigation and finds it "unreasonable that we?re fighting over rectangles, that that?s being considered as an infringement."
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"We're all scratching our heads and saying, 'How is this possible...?"
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I'm scratching my head too, Kevin. Just not about the same thing, ya doofus.